Hello, I’m wondering if anyone has done a deep dive on the best (cheapest or most conveninet) way to make monthly payments on educational loans in the USA from Japan and originating in yen.
I currently just do monthly Wise transfers, but it really sucks losing money each month in fees. Are there any banks or account types with credit cards that allow international transactions in USD without fees? I can do that the other way without issue using Charles Schwab as my US account holder, for instance.
6 comments
I don’t think there’s anything that allows absolutely zero fees for JPY to USD. You’ll have to live with Wise fees, but they’re thankfully fairly low in my opinion.
Best of luck finishing off those loan payments. I finally paid mine off a few years ago after many many Wise transfers.
Not sure how much you are paying in fees, but Revolut allows for zero fees under a certain amount. Pretty sure I sent out a couple thousand without paying fees
Switch your loan repayment plan to income based payment, if possible. It’ll be based on your US taxable income, which is $0 unless you’re over the threshold. Then, your expected repayment amount each month will be $0. There, now you’re not paying anything.
I just send back larger amounts every few months to cover payments for a while.
Wondering if you could pay yourself via PayPal? Setup and account with separate emails, tie each to your Japan and USA accounts?
Honestly, Wise is an incredible deal. I used to have to book my arse to a physical Western Union branch and sign a bunch of paperwork and pay thousands of yen plus a crap exchange rate when I began paying my student loans off about 10 years ago. We are talking something like 3,000-5,000 yen spent every month to send 70,000 home or so.
Now it costs less than 1,000 yen with a much better rate and I can do it in my underwear from bed.
I have since sent home at least 7,000,000 yen home (most of my student loans and some credit card bills for buying the ticket over here, home downpayment loan, etc).
IMO if nothing else jumps out at ya, Wise is still a great choice.